Liquid dispenser



Mar ch 5, 1940. H. c. ALLEN 2,192,592

LIQUID DISPENSER Filed May 4, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 5, 1940. H. c.ALLEN LIQUID DISPENSER Filed May 4. 1938 4 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOK.170M790 (l/Mus 6115M Z? Z ATTORI E Y.

March 5, 1940. Q ALLEN 2,192,592

LIQUID DISPENSER Filed May 4, 1938 451166125-5119912 3 ml]! III! 1111 I/I [J II II IIII "u 5 q w 02 N \s h m O I "O I?) q III/II IIIIIIIMVENTOR- [lemma can 0am.

,LIQUID DISPENSER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 4, 1938 Ill/II nv VEN 7'02.l/ownno Cl/aeus 811 EN.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 5, 1940 STATES moon) DISPENSER Howard Charles Allen,Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Application May 4, 1938, Serial No.205,946

11 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in liquid dispensers of the typewhich are provided with a feed tank and a measuring vessel, wherein gasunder pressure is used to convey liquid from a source of supply to thefeed tank.

The objects of the invention are to provide audible means for indicatingwhen the supply to the feed tank is exhausted; to transfer the tankcontent to the source of supply prior to washing out the dispenser; toconserve gas and accelerate the transfer from the tank to the source ofsupply; to provide means for reconditioning the liquid when in the tank,and to provide means for washing out the measuring vessel and the tank.

The invention consists of a feed supply tank having a measuring vesselassociated therewith, control means to selectively maintain differentgas pressures in the feed tank, and means for transferring pressure fromthe source of liquid supply to the feed tank and for transferring theliquid from the tank to the source of supply, as will be more fullydescribed in the following specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of theinvention taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

30 Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the liquid feed and blow down valve totank and gas supply valve structure, taken on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectionalview of the discharge valve assembly to a measuringvessel and is taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the washout passage to the measuringvessels and is taken on the line 55 of Figure 1.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the wash out valve shown in section in Figure5.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the gas regulating valve structure to thefeed tank.

In the drawings like charactersof reference indicate corresponding partsin each figure.

v The numeral 1 indicates generally a base having side walls 2 and afront panel 3. Between the side walls a feed tank 4 is carried, whichhas a bottom wall 5 and a top cover .6. The feed tank 4 is provided withan upstanding feed pipe 1, see Figures 1, 2 and 3, which is fitted witha float valve 8 at its upper end to admit liquid, which will hereinafterbe referred to as beer, up to a predetermined level in thetank. Theconnections to the feed pipe include a supply pipe 9 preferably with abranch pipe 3A, which lead. downwardly for connection to two kegs whichwill be referred to as keg No. 1 and keg No.

2. The pipes 9 and 8A are provided with valves I6 that beer may beobtained from either keg. Connected with the feed pipe I and below the1,5; tank d is a valve body H, see Figures 1, 2 and 3,

in which two valves numbered l2 and I3 are mounted. The valve itnormally closed, closes ofi a passage It communicating between the feedpipe I and the bottom wall 5 of the tank. The 10 valve It operates in achamber [5 wherein two valve seats i6 and H are provided. The chamber I5is provided with a port I8 which is adapted for connection by a pipe IS!and its branch 20 to the kegs No. 1 and No. 2. The lower seat I6communicates with a port 28 leading to an upstanding pipe 22 extendingabove the beer level in the feed tank. The upper seat ll communicateswith a port 23 to which is connected a C02 supply pipe 24.

The valve I3 when in position shown in contact with its seat It and outof contact with the seat I! allows CO2 gas to enter the chamber 15 andflow through the pipes IE9 or 20, according to which ever one is open toprovide pressure in 25 either keg No. 1 or No. 2, so that beer therefromcan be forced up into the feed tank against a predetermined pressuretherein. The valves l2 and I3 .are respectively actuated from a shaft 25by cams 26 and 21, the cam 21 being so formed ,30 as to lift its valveonly when rocked in a clockwise direction, see Figure 1. When the valveI3 is in raised position or closed to the seat H, the supply of CO2 iscut off and the gas pressure in the keg which is being drawn from isallowed to pass through the chamber Hi, the port 2| and the pipe 22, sothat, the valve l2 being simultaneously opened, the beer in the tank canbe quickly returned tothe source of supply on account of the pressurereduction at the source of supply and the increase of pressure in thefeed tank.

An outlet, 30 is formed in the bottom wall of the feed tank, whichcommunicates through pipes 31 and 32, shown in dotted line in Figure 2and in full lines in Figures 4. and 5, leading to the measuring vessels33 and, 34 respectively. The measuring vessels. .33 and 34. are eachprovided with an inlet valve 35, a foam valve 36, an outlet valve 3] anda relief valve 38. The inlet and foam valves of the measuring vessel 33are operated from a cam 39 upon a shaft 40. The outlet valve and reliefvalve of the same measuring Vessel are operated from a camv 4|. Theinlet and foam valves of the measuring vessel 34 are operated from acam42 and the outlet and relief valves of said measuring vessel areoperated from a cam 43. The cams are oppositely set upon the shaft 48,so that when said shaft is rocked to dispense beer, the inlet and foamvalves of one measuring vessel are opened to allow said vessel to filland the outlet and relief valves of the other vessel are opened to allowthe second vessel to empty. The foam valves 36 each close ofi a port 44communicating with a pipe 45 which extends above the beer and foam levelof the feed tank. The outlet valves 31 both communicate with a port 46which terminates in a discharge spout 41, see Figure 5. The reliefvalves 38 both communicate with a port 48 which leads to a chamber 49 ina valve body 50.

The valve body 50 is provided with a passage 5| to which is connected awater supply pipe 52. The passage 5| communicates with the chamber 49and a further valve chamber 53. A valve 54 is slidably movable in thechamber 49 and is adapted to close against a seat 55 to close off thewater supply and alternately to close against a seat 56 to closecommunication between the chamber 49 and a waste pipe 51 having an opendischarge at a suitable point below the measuring vessels. The wastepipe 5'! serves as a breather pipe for the relief valve 38 when thevalve 54 is in normal position as shown in Figures 1 and 6.

The chamber 53 is provided with an outlet pipe 58 which extends throughthe bottom wall 5 of the feed tank and to a point near the cover 6 todeliver water to wash out the tank. The chamber 53 is normally closedoff from the passage 5| by a valve 59.

The valves 54 and 59 are respectively operated by cams 60 and 6|, whichare secured upon a manually operable shaft 62, the cams being so setthat with respect to each other that the turning in one direction willremove the valve 54 from its seat 55 and move it to close to its seat56, and that the turning of the shaft 62 from a neutral position in theopposite direction will open the valve 59 for water to flow upwardlyinto the feed tank.

A gas pressure control valve generally indicated by the numeral 65 isfitted to the feed tank and communicates therewith through an upstandingpipe 66, which is connected to a horizontal ported passage 61. There arethree valve chambers respectively numbered 68, 69 and 10, each having aseat "I! and a valve closure 12. Each of the valve closures areseparately loaded, preferably with dead weights I3, 14 and 15 ofprogressively increasing weight. A stem 16 is provided for each deadweight, which is suitably guided adjacent its upper end in an aperturedcover plate Tl. Rockingly mounted above the stems 16 is a manuallyoperable shaft 18 having two earns 19 and which are adapted torespectively engage the stems to hold the valve closures 72 in thechambers 68 and 69 upontheir seats. The valve closure in the chamber 68is preferably loaded to lift at say four pounds, the closure in thechamber 69 to lift at seven pounds and the closure in the chamber 10 tolift at nine pounds or over. The cams 19 and 80 are so designed upon theshaft 18 that the closure in chamber 68 alone may be held upon its seat,necessitating a raise of pressure in the tank to seven pounds beforeblowing off, or, that the closures in both chambers 68 and 69 may besimultaneously held down, necessitating a rise of pressure in the tankto nine pounds. The pressures above quoted are obviously subject tochange. The pressure of the beer at the source of supply will obviouslybe greater than that required to lift the valve closures in the chambers68, 59 and 16, since it must support a static liquid head in the beersupply pipe between the kegs and the float valve 8 and in order toindicate instantly to the operator that his source of liquid supply isexhausted I provide a spring loaded relief valve 82, see Figure 1,fitted with an audible signal 83 to the feed tank, the inlet to saidrelief valve being through an upstanding pipe 84. The relief valve 82would be set to blow off at the same pressure as that of the CO2 at thesource of supply, so that when the available beer is delivered into thefeed tank and there is no static head in the beer supply pipe, thepressure in the tank will be equal to that at the keg, consequently theaudible signal will operate and warn the operator that he may changeover from one-keg to another. It will be obvious that the relief valve82 and its signal 83 may be equally connected to communicate with theported passage 61 of the pressure control valve 65 instead of beingconnected to the tank as a separate unit.

To facilitate washing out the feed tank and the beer supply pipe 9, abreather pipe 85 is extended into the tank and above the normal liquidlevel therein. This pipe is fitted at its upper extremity With a valve86 having a stem 81 which is actuated by a cam 88 upon the shaft 25. Thecam 26 and the cam 88 are identical in form and are adapted to lifttheir respective valves to open them as the shaft 25 is rocked from thenormal position either in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction.

In operating the dispenser, the CO2 supply at suitable pressure of saytwelve pounds, is turned on to the gas supply pipe 24 and the valve onthe pipe I9 is also opened, assuming that beer is first to be drawn fromthe keg No. l. The valve H) on the beer supply pipe 9A is opened, sothat the gas under pressure will force the beer through pipes 9 and 9Aand the feed pipe 1, when it will flow past the float valve 8 into thefeed tank 4. When a predetermined level is reached in the feed tank, thefloat valve will shut off the incoming supply and the dispenser is readyfor use.

All the operating valves in the dispenser are shown in the drawings asbeing in normal position.

Assuming the beer to be in perfect dispensing condition, the cam 19 ofthe gas pressure control valve 65 will be in such position as to holdthe valve closure in the chambers 68 upon its seat (as shown), leavingthe closures in chambers 59 and 10 free to lift in response to pressurein excess of their loadings. The tank pressure will of course be similarto that at the source of beer supply less static head in pipes, tankpressure we will assume to be between 6 and 7 pounds, consequentlyneither closure in chamber 69 or 18 will lift. When a glass is to befilled it is placed under the discharge spout 4'! and the shaft 40 isrocked in one direction say to close the valves 35 and 86 in themeasuring vessel 34 and open the discharge valve 31 and the relief valve38, thus discharging the beer from the vessel 34. The movement abovedescribed effects the valves of the measuring vessel 33 in exactly theopposite way, so that that vessel is allowed to fill.

In discharging either of the measuring vessels, the relief valve insteadof being directly open to the atmosphere, as described in my priorpatents to dispensers, is open only through the chamber 49, the valveseat 56 and through the waste pipe 51. Assuming keg No. 1 to be flat atthe time of first draw off, the operator will close off the valve tothat keg and open the valve ID to the keg No. 2 and also the CO2 valvein the pipe 2i], which will allow gas to continue to enter keg No. 1 torestore its gas content and will enable beer to be fed to the feed tank4' from keg No. 2. If a keg of beer is found to be wild or possess anundue gas content, it will on entering the feed tank set up a greaterpressure than that desired and will lift the valve closure in chamberoff its seat, allowing some gas to escape, but beer drawn off even afterthe above described blow off may still give off too much foam todispense a proper glass. If this should be so, the shaft 18 is rocked todispose the cam 19 clear of engagement with the closure in chamber 69and its associated parts, so that the beer in the tank is allowed togive 01f its gas until it is down to a suitable condition. As soon asthe beer shows signs of becoming flat, the shaft 18 is again turned toits former position or if the beer is slightly fiat at the time ofdelivery to the feed tank the valve closure in the chamber ll] is aloneallowed to operate, so that the gas pressure in the tank will rise andthe beer become reconditioned.

Should one barrel become empty through normal draw oif and the level inthe tank being too low to close the float valve 8, the beer in thesupply and feed pipe will be thrown over into the tank and the pressurewill rise in the tank to that in the keg just emptied, consequently theaudible signal 83 will operate and gas will also leak outwardly from thevalve chamber 10.

At the close of business hours or when desired to wash out thedispenser, the beer content of the feed tank is returned to the keg byrocking the shaft in a clockwise direction to open the beer return valveI2 and to reverse the position of the valve It, so that the supply ofCO2 to the keg is shut off and to permit the gas in the keg to flow backfrom said keg past the seat l6 and flow into the tank through the pipe22. This allows the beer to flow freely back from the tank to the kegand the gas to be transferred to the feed tank. When the feed tank isthus drained, the beer hose connections to the kegs are disconnected andthe CO2 supply is shut ofi. The shaft 25 on being rocked in ananti-clockwise direction returns the CO2 valve l3 to normalposition,opens the valve 12 to the pipe 9 and the breather valve 85 to admit airas required to the tank, so as to prevent an air lock from developing inthe tank. The valve 59 is then opened to permit the flow of servicewater through the chamber 53 and the pipe 58 to spray the interiorsurfaces of the tank and to wash out the beer supply lines right back tothe point of connection with the kegs. If no means were provided forbreaking the air lock in the tank, the water entering under pressureinto the then sealed tank would prevent any accumulation of water in'thetank, since it would be driven out just as fast as it entered,consequently effective washing away of foam and other undesirablecomponents of the beverage would not be effectively removed. However,with the breather system provided effective washing is obtained. Whenthe tank is thoroughly washed the position of valve 54 is reversed toallow service water to flow upwards through the chamber 49 into the port48, then.

as the dispensing valve operating shaft is rocked from side to side, thewater flows first into one and then into the other of the measuring,

vessels 33 and 34 to wash their inner surfaces and parts. The waterenteringone of the vessels being discharged as the second vessel isbeing filled with water. Obviously when sufficient washing has beendone, the water is shut off and the valves 5% and 5d are returned tonormal posi tion and the shaft 25 is rocked back'to normal position andconsequently a few rocking movements to the shaft lil will drain off anywater in the tank or the measuring vessels.

What I claim as my invention is: I

1. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank, a measuring vessel,a discharge valve for the measuring vessel, and a valve for filling themeasuring vessel from the feed tank, a water supply pipe having manuallyoperable coordinated valves for selectively supplying water to themeasuring vessel and to the feed tank.

2. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank, a measuring vessel,a discharge valve and a relief valve for the measuring vessel and'avalve for filling the measuring vessel from the feed tank, a Watersupply pipe having a manually operable valve for admitting water throughthe relief valve to the measuring vessel when the discharge valve isopened.

3. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank, a measuring vessel,a discharge valve and a relief valve for the measuring vessel normallycommunicating with a waste outlet, a water supply pipe having a manuallyoperable valve, said valve serving to close off the waste outlet anddeliver water to the measuring vessel when the discharge valve is open.

4. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank, a valve fordispensing liquid from the tank, a feed pipe adapted for connection to asource of liquid supply and a bye-pass from the feed pipe to the bottomof the feed tank, said tank being adapted to be supplied with liquid bygas applied under pressure at the source of supply, a gas pipe adaptedto lead from a source of gas supply to the source of liquid supply, apipe adapted to lead from said gas pipe to the feed tank, a valve forselectively directing the gas from the source of liquid supply to thetank and for shutting off the flow of gas from the source of gas supply,and a valve for controlling the bye-pass between the liquid supply feedpipe and the bottom of the feed tank.

5. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank, a valve fordispensing liquid from the tank, a feed pipe adapted for connection to asource of liquid supply and a bye-pass from the feed pipe to the bottomof the feed tank, said tank being adapted .to be supplied with liquid'bygas applied under pressure at the source of supply, a gas pipe adaptedto lead from a source of gas supply to the source of liquid supply, apipe adapted to lead from said gas pipe to the feed tank, a valve forselectively directing the gas from the source of liquid supply to thetank and for shutting off the flow of gas from the source of gas supply,and a valve for controlling the bye-pass between the liquid supply feedpipe andthe bottom of the feed tank, said bye-pass control valve andsaid gas control valve being connected for simultaneous operation.

6. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank having a liquidinlet, a measuring vessel having a discharge opening and means forfilling the measuring vessel from the feed tank, said feed tank having afioat controlled inlet pipe adapted for connection to a source ofsupply, a pipe connecting said inlet pipe between the source of liquidsupply and the float controlled valve, a

valve structure including a valve controlling the flow through theconnecting pipe, and a gas diversion valve, said gas diversion valvebeing in communication with the tank, the source of pressure, said tankhaving a feed pipe extending above the liquid level in the tank andconnected with the source of liquid supply, a normally closed branchpipe communicating between the feed pipe and the bottom of the tank, asource of gas supply and a pipe connecting said gas supply to the sourceof liquid supply, and means for stopping the flow of gas to the sourceof liquid supply, for transferring gas from the source of liquid supplyto the tank and for opening the normally closed branch pipe between thebottom of the tank and the feed pipe.

8. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank having a valveddischarge outlet, said feed tank being adapted to be supplied withliquid from a source of supply under gas pressure, a feed pipe and anormally closed gas pipe communicating between the source of supply andthe feed tank, and valve means for transferring the gas from the sourceof supply to the tank tank below the float valve, and means operablecoincidentally with the opening of the branch pipe valve for preventingan air lock in the tank.

10. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank adapted to besupplied with liquid through a feed pipe from a source of supply, afloat valve for controlling the supply of liquid entering through saidfeed pipe, a branch valve communicating with the supply pipe below thefloat valve to discharge washing water from the tank through said feedpipe, a breather valve for admitting free air to the tank and means forsimultaneously opening the branch valve and the breather valve.

11. In a liquid dispenser having a sealed feed tank adapted to besupplied with liquid through a feed pipe from a source of supply, afloat valve for controlling the supply of liquid entering through saidfeed pipe, a valve communicating with the supply pipe to dischargewashing water from the tank through said feed pipe, a breather valve foradmitting air tothe tank, a valve structure for alternately admittinggas to the source of liquid supply, and from the source of liquid supplyto the tank, and a shaft adapted on being rocked in the oppositedirection to op- I erate the Valve structure to a position to admit gasto the source of liquid supply, to open the valve communicating with thesource of liquid supply and to open the breather valve to the tank.

HOWARD CHARLES ALLEN.

